Obituary was loving written by her family.

JEANNETTE PAGE November 11, 1939 - January 12, 2024, Jeannette Page (Jean) was born on November 11,1939 in Hammond, Indiana, to George and Evelyn Kendall, both of whom predeceased her. She was raised in East Chicago, Indiana, surrounded by an extended family of three siblings, grandparents, seven aunts and uncles and many, many cousins. On February 24, 1962, she was married to William J. Page.

Jean was a multi-talented musician, artist, and writer as well as a brilliant academic student, graduating as valedictorian of the class of 1957 from Roosevelt High School in East Chicago. She continued her education at Indiana University, graduating in 1961 with a bachelor's degree in English and Literature. Later, while teaching at Oswego High School, she completed her master's program at Northern Illinois University, graduating with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. (of course!)

On February 24, 1965 (her third wedding anniversary) Jean welcomed the birth of her first child - Michael William Page. Two years later, on February 27, 1967, Mark William Page joined the family. As the boys grew up, everyone was very busy and involved with Indian Guides, the Aurora YMCA, Cub Scouts, and many other activities. Then the boys discovered hockey! They wanted nothing more than to lace up their skates and head for any patch of ice they could find. Jean even bought a pair of skates and joined them on the ice - with great caution. Both boys sharpened their skills and one year after their first starting to skate they successfully made their respective team level ascension to the rosters of the Sabers Traveling teams and began skating competitively over much of Northern Illinois and occasionally in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Missouri. Jean was a full participant in the boys' passion. On at least one occasion, she was caught skating onto the ice during practice wearing a referee's black and white striped jersey and a pillow tied around her backside! Then tragedy struck. On February 12, 1977, Mike and his teammate, Brett Hilt had a game in Peoria and Brett's father, a very experienced private pilot, was to fly them down. Unfortunately, the plane crashed on takeoff and all four occupants were killed. Jean never fully recovered from that loss, but we know that she has now joined Mike and is thrilled to be reunited with him.

Jean's teaching career spanned thirty-five years, beginning at the junior high level, and culminating in a long span as head of the English and Speech department at Oswego High School. She started the Yellow Book writing program at Thompson Junior High which would prove to be a tremendous leap in better writing and critical thinking skills earlier on in her student's academic careers. The Yellow Book program was then embraced district wide and morphed into the Owl Program. She organized many extra-curricular events, including Fairy Tale Trials and an annual Madrigal Dinner featuring students in medieval garb and skits, sword fighting, and other activities straight out of Shakespeare. She primarily taught the advanced placement classes with a heavy emphasis on writing. Almost every year she received thank you letters from her then college freshmen who were ever so grateful for the effort and sweat that she had extracted from them in high school. One student in particular had submitted a paper which the instructor read aloud to the class, concluding with "This is what a paper should look and sound like". Jean and her department received many awards and accolades. She was indeed the epitome of teaching.

After retirement, Jean threw herself into one of her other passions. Quilting. She had always spent some of her spare time on that hobby, but once she had the time available, she joined the Quilters Dozen in Oswego and enthusiastically indulged herself in this art form. She almost never missed her weekly sessions with "the ladies". She traveled and visited quilt shops and exhibitions literally from coast to coast for a number of years. Jean was frequently also an exhibitor at many of the shows. She received honors and recognition for her skill and finely tuned sense of color and style. After winning accolades for one of her quilts in a show held in Peoria, she was contacted by a nationally produced magazine which wanted to feature her quilt. She shipped it to them in Colorado and they featured it by breaking it down step by step a few months later so their readers could (try) to duplicate her original design. She had the occasion to be traveling in Colorado soon after and asked if she could stop by their facilities. Jean was greeted as a celebrity (and Bill as her chauffeur) and was given the grand tour. Another magazine also contacted her as they also wanted to feature that particular quilt. Unfortunately, the first magazine had the "rights" so no one else could do a feature on it.

Jean was predeceased by her parents and son, Micheal. And also, by most of her cousins, even though she was the oldest of them all, (she was the leader of the pack).

She is survived by her husband of sixty-two years, William J. Page (Bill), her son Mark (Heidi), grandson Colin Page and granddaughter Maureen Page. She is also survived by her brothers, George (Vicki) Kendall, Dyer, Indiana, John (Barbara) Kendall, Commerce City, Colorado, and James (Rose) Kendall, Crown Point, Indiana and eight nieces and nephews.

A visitation will take place on Thursday, January 18, 2024, from 4 pm until 8 pm and on Friday, January 19 from 9:30 am until 11:00 am at the DUNN FAMILY FUNERAL HOME with CREMATORY 1801 South Douglas Road, Oswego, IL 60543.

There will be a short memorial service at 11:00 on Friday followed by the interment at Lincoln Memorial Park in Aurora (on Route 30).

Luncheon to follow from 1:00 to 3:00 at the Martini Banquet Hall in Yorkville 171 Saravanos Dr., Yorkville, IL 60560. Near Rt. 71 and Rt. 47.

For information, 630-554-3888 or visit her memorial page at www.dunnfamilyfuneralhome.com